Coexistence between two fruit fly species is supported by the different strength of intra- and interspecific competition

Abstract

1. Unravelling the strength and modes of interspecific interactions between resident and introduced species is necessary in order to understand the basis of their coexistence or the displacement of the former by the latter. In Argentina, the indigenous Tephritidae fly Anastrepha fraterculus overlaps its distribution and host fruit with the introduced species Ceratitis capitata. 2. This study focused on the relative strength of intra- and interspecific competition during the larval stage as a potential factor supporting coexistence. Classical competition experiments (addition and substitution) were conducted between larvae of the two species reared in artificial larval diet. The study evaluated whether a temporal separation between oviposition events affects the outcome of the competition. 3. When both species started to consume the resource at the same time, A. fraterculus experienced a negative effect in larval survival, pupal weight and duration of larval stage, while for C. capitata, pupal weight decreased. When A. fraterculus started feeding 1 day earlier than C. capitata, the negative effects became milder, and when the temporal separation increased, these effects were reversed. Substitution experiments showed an increase in pupal weight when larvae had to share the resource with heterospecific larvae, and showed negative effects suffered for both species when they shared the resource with conspecific individuals. 4. These results suggest that intraspecific competition is stronger than interspecific competition, and a differential oviposition preference could generate an asynchrony of these species in nature. Such mechanisms could favour coexistence between A. fraterculus and C. capitata in an environment previously occupied only by the former.